Understanding Calculations

366

Dr. Mariam Al-Bahrani

Units in clinical
chemistry
Systems of units commonly used

1) Conventional units- most

frequently used in the US
(metric system).
2) Système International (SI)
units
Conversion between the metric system and SI
Moles versus mass
• Conversion between the two unit systems using the molecular
weight.
• Example: Converting glucose conventional unit (mg/dL) to SI unit
(mmol/L). Given concentration: 100mg/dL, MW: 180 g/mol
To convert to mmol
To convert to Liter
100 𝑚𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑙 ×1000
X X 10
𝑑𝐿 180 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑠 ×1000
To convert to mg

= 5.55 mmol/L
 Calculate the following:

1) The concentration of 5.0 mg/dL bilirubin in SI units.

2) The concentration of 6mmol/L cholesterol in conventional
units.
3) The concentration of 1 mg/dL creatinine in SI units.
Analytes that cannot be expressed in moles
Molarity

• Molarity is the number of MOLES of solute in 1 LITER of a solution.

• Molar (M)= mole/L
• Remember; mole = weight (g)/ M.W (g/mole)

𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (𝑔)
𝑔
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 (𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒) 𝑀.𝑊 ( ) 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (𝑔) 1
• Molarity = = 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒
= 𝑔 X
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝐿) 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 (𝐿) 𝑀.𝑊 ( ) 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 (𝐿)
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒
• The unit of molarity is mole/L.
Example:
Prepare 2M of NaCL in 100mL.

𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (𝑔)
Molarity = 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝐿 𝑥 𝑀.𝑊

M.W for NaCL is 58.5 g/mole

Weight of NaCL = 2 mole/L x 0.1 L x 58.5 g/mole = 11.7 g

So, we need to dissolve 11.7g NaCL in a total volume of 100mL di water.
Dilutions:

• Dilution means you need to add more solvent without the addition of solute
to reduce the concentration of the solute.

• The dilution is prepared by different methods:

1. Ratio (serial dilution)
2. Using C1.V1 = C2.V2 formula (parallel dilution)
C1 X V1 = C2 X V2 (parallel dilution)

C1= Concentration of starting solution (stock solution)

V1= Volume of starting solution needed to make the new solution
(volume of stock solution).
C2= Final concentration of new solution.
V2= Final volume of new solution.
Example:
• Make 5mL of 0.3M solution from 1M solution.

C1 = 1M C2= 0.3M V1=? V2=5mL

C1 x V1 = C2 x V2
𝑚𝑜𝑙
𝐶2 𝑥 𝑉2 0.3 𝐿 𝑥 0.005 𝐿
V1= = = 0.0015 L = 1.5 mL
𝐶1 1 𝑚𝑜𝑙/𝐿
So, 1.5 mL of the 1M solution is needed to prepare 0.3M, then
complete the volume to reach 5mL.
To prepare standard mixtures (Two standards
in one solution)
1) Calculate the required volume from each standard.

2) Subtract the total required volume from the volume of the two
standard to know the volume of the solvent required.
Serial dilution
• A serial dilution is a sequence of dilutions created using the
same dilution factor.
• For instance, creating a two-fold dilution with a starting
concentration of 10 µM yields the following concentrations:
1:2 1:2 1:2

10 µM 5 µM 2.5 µM 1.25 µM
Here, the dilution factor is 2
The dilution is 1:2
Serial dilution-cont.
• The dilution factor (DF) is calculated as follows:
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
• DF=
𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒

OR, in case the two volumes are unknown

𝐶1
• DF= where, C1: the concentration of the concentrated solution, C2: concentration of the
𝐶2
diluted solution
Ppm to molarity conversion
• Ppm (parts per million): number of parts of something in a million
parts of something else. How many grams of solute are in each
million grams of solvent.

• Ppm =mg/L

• To convert ppm to molarity or molarity to ppm, we need the

molecular weight (MW)
ppm = molarity (mol/L) X MW (g/mol) X 1000 To convert g to mg

Example: to convert 50mM NaCl to ppm

𝑜.05 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝑔
Ppm= X 58.44 X 1000
𝐿 𝑚𝑜𝑙
= 2922 mg/L

To convert ppm to ppb: ppm= 1000ppb

So, you have to MULTIPLY the ppm value by 1000